A look at Mike Espy before US Senate runoff: People over party, keeping head down

Democrat Mike Espy speaks at a campaign party in Jackson after it was announced he'll face Cindy Hyde-Smith in runoff for U.S. Senate seat.
Barbara Gauntt, Clarion-Ledger

Democratic Senate candidate Mike Espy announces to an awaiting crowd at his election night party at the Jackson Hilton Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, that a runoff against Republican opponent Cindy Hyde-Smith is in the future. The runoff is set for Nov. 27, 2018.(Photo: Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger)

The question was a softball: What did Mike Espy think of President Donald Trump’s recent comments criticizing several African-American journalists?

Espy refused to bite. He told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that, yes, he was aware of the president’s remarks. “But I really have to tell you,” said Espy, who is African-American, “we’re just keeping our head down, you know, running for the 27th of November. Going out to all around Mississippi, talking about health care, and making sure these rural hospitals stay open.”

The exchange was emblematic of the 64-year-old Democrat’s campaign in this increasingly heated special U.S. Senate election, with concludes Tuesday with a runoff against Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Take it easy on Trump. Play up his bipartisan credentials, like endorsing former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour. Steer the conversation away from anything controversial, even race, and back to health care.

Will it work?

'A senator for everyone'

National Democratic fundraising groups and leaders believe he has a chance, especially after recent comments by Hyde-Smith talking about voter suppression and attending a “public hanging.” They are pumping last-minute cash into the race, as prominent names such as Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker visited to drum up excitement for the former U.S. representative and U.S. agriculture secretary.

The last time a Democrat from Mississippi was elected to the Senate was 1982; the last time a black senator represented Mississippi was shortly after the Civil War. An Espy win won't give Democrats control in the Senate, but it could signal a larger political shift in the historically conservative South. Yet Espy often downplays the historic nature of his run.

"I'm proud of that but I'm not dwelling on it," he said in another recent interview. "I want to be a senator for everyone. I'm trying to get votes from everyone, regardless of race, or age, or gender, or sexual orientation, or disability — or even party. I'm going to Republicans and Democrats talking about the issues that concern them."

Despite a long-shot bid for any Democrat — Trump won Mississippi by 18 points in 2016 and has endorsed Hyde-Smith — Espy has generated several bursts of national attention and excitement on the campaign trail in recent weeks. Sometimes, they have been thanks to his opponent’s mistakes.

At a Jackson breakfast for women last week, dozens lined up to take a picture with Harris, the California senator and possible 2020 presidential contender. In motivating the women to get out and vote, she described the race as "one of the most important in our lifetimes," and an "inflection moment." She also added that "if it's worth fighting for, it's a fight worth having," seeming to acknowledge Espy's tough odds.

"Mississippi is not California, Mississippi is not Massachusetts, and Kamala knows that," Espy would later tell reporters, referring to her more liberal stance on some issues. "If I'm lucky enough and blessed to be a member of the U.S. Senate, we may not always vote similarly. She knows that, and I know that as well."

But he said they had common core values they believe in, such as promoting education, promoting health care and ensuring students don't leave college with an "inordinate" amount of debt.

At a Millsaps College event earlier this month talking about issues with young voters, Espy stopped to address an elementary school class that attended. “Just keep doing well, obey your teachers,” he told them in his staccato, raspy voice. “I want to help you all I can, alright?” Over their screams, the candidate began repeating “vote Mike Espy,” and soon they were all chanting it, as Espy bobbed up and down inside a throng of children. Captured on video, it was a moment of social media gold for the campaign.

Also social media gold for Espy: Hyde-Smith’s recent reference to attending a “public hanging” as she praised a supporter, and a later reference to voter suppression of “liberal folks,” which her campaign labeled a joke.

Espy has accepted the attention after the videos were posted online, going on CNN and MSNBC. But he has rarely hammered Hyde-Smith very hard for her remarks, which many saw as having racial undertones in a state with a history of violence and voter suppression tactics carried out on African-Americans. (In more recent days, Espy's campaign did release an ad attacking Hyde-Smith over the remarks: "We can't afford a senator who embarrasses us and reinforces the stereotypes we've worked so hard to overcome.")

“I have to confess to you I’ve never heard that type of colloquialism,” Espy told Matthews of Hyde-Smith's “hanging” comment, adding it was an inappropriate remark for a sitting U.S. senator. But when asked on CNN if it was racist or had racial undertones, he declined to answer.

Huge turnout needed

It hasn't all been a positive run for Espy. He was forced out as agriculture secretary in 1994 over allegations he improperly took gifts from business interests, and while he was acquitted on the more than 30 corruption charges, the allegations still haunt him, often coming up in Republican campaign messaging.

More recently, he has faced scrutiny for taking $750,000 in 2011 to lobby on behalf of the government of an Ivory Coast despot, Laurent Gbagbo, who is accused of violence against civilians and is on trial at the International Criminal Court. Espy allegedly continued to take payments from the Gbagbo government after publicly indicating he'd suspended the contract — an issue which has become a key talking point in Hyde-Smith's ads and media outreach.

At a Tuesday debate, Espy said he accepted the contract to help cocoa farmers, through the government's cocoa commission, who faced plummeting prices. But Espy said he soon realized "how bad" Gbagbo was. "I wrote him, I resigned, I terminated the contract," Espy said, adding he later provided information gleaned during his time in the Ivory Coast to U.S. intelligence services.

On the campaign trail, Espy often hits on education, infrastructure and repairing Mississippi's downtrodden image on the national stage. But the issue he talks about most is health care, calling for more affordable drugs, lower insurance premiums, and the state Republican-dominated leadership to accept federal Medicaid dollars to help its struggling rural hospitals and residents in the coverage gap.

"That speaks to me because we have the most ignorant governor, who has decided not to accept the Medicaid benefits and all of that aid that was coming into the state," said Jackson resident Monica Lanos, who attended the Harris breakfast. "So many people are now without coverage, and we have hospitals closing. And to me, that's just insane. That makes no sense to me, it does not compute."

Experts suggest Espy will need a huge turnout, especially among African-Americans, if he is to have a chance at victory Tuesday. And it is a difficult time for an election, so soon after the midterms, and just five days after Thanksgiving.

"My friends are still excited," said the 59-year-old Lanos, who is black. "People are going to make the vote. But it's all those voters, that group that doesn't normally go, that we got there (to the polls) the first time. Will they go out the second time?"

It's a good question. On Tuesday, Mike Espy's political fortunes will be decided by the answer.

Who is Mike Espy?

Espy in 1986 was elected Mississippi's first African American to serve in Congress since Reconstruction and served in the U.S. House from 1987 to 1993, handily winning re-election three times by wide margins.

President Bill Clinton appointed Espy as U.S. secretary agriculture in 1993, the first African American to hold that post. Espy resigned the agriculture post over accusations he received improper gifts from companies regulated by USDA, such as sports tickets, luggage, air fare, meals and lodging. Espy was indicted in 1997. He refused offered plea bargains and demanded a trial where he was found innocent of all charges.

Espy has served as county attorney for Madison and Claiborne counties, and on the boards of Hope Enterprise Corporation and Hope Credit Union.

Here are some things to know about Espy:

Age: 64

Home: Madison

Occupation: attorney, former U.S. representative, former U.S. secretary of agriculture

Self reflection: "I'm going to stand up for the good name of Mississippi, just like I did for Mike Espy's good name. I'm stronger and wiser and I'd be a damned good senator standing against those who would wrongfully accuse our state ... I'm more experienced than anyone in this race. The only other person with experience has been there three months, and that's not good enough. I've been through the fire and came out stronger and tested. All those things will make me a good senator."

What others say: "Mike Espy has a deep-rooted dedication to the people of Mississippi— and the nation ... Mike worked to expand and extend economic opportunity for those who needed it most — including young people, businesses and farmers. Now Mississippi voters have the chance to put him back to work in the Senate, fighting for the things we desperately need today— like better jobs, improved educational opportunities and affordable healthcare." — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker

Platform

Budget/spending: Espy notes he made large cuts to staff and spending as ag secretary and vows to push for accountability, including for Wall Street's influence. "Washington's incredible wastefulness of tax dollars is abhorrent to any sense of fairness or rational thinking."

Immigration: Opposes building border wall, because cost cannot be justified, but believes in "a secure border and enforced immigration laws that are fairly applied to all." Criticizes separation of immigrant children from families.

Trump tax cuts: Said he probably would have voted for the tax cuts, but wants to "make sure people see the benefits" not just corporations.

Regulatory reform: Would make decisions on deregulation "based on facts," not politics and most often "I'm going to come down on the side of business." Notes that he successfully fought EPA regulations that would have hurt Mississippi's farming industry, but pushed for food safety regulations after an e-coli outbreak.

Gun rights: A "moderate." Espy said, "I absolutely believe in the right to own and bear arms guaranteed by our forefathers," but said he supports "common sense limitations" in light of cases of mass shootings. Notes he won the NRA "Silver Rifle" award as a congressman.